


The Final Sound

by TheSupernova



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Death, Gen, Mentions of Character Death, People being eaten all over the damn place, Titans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2738654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSupernova/pseuds/TheSupernova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the time of their last stand, and these are the final moments of their lives. Now is the time when they can no longer dwell on history, nor dare to hope to shape the future. Here is where great men fall and the strength of man is tested. This is where they die. This is where everything, and nothing, changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Final Sound

 

Everyone’s dying. No, everyone’s dead. They are alone. It’s over.

There is no escape this time. No last minute recovery, no miraculous survival, no unseen saviour. This is where they have unknowingly made their final stand, and it is here they will fall.

It’s only the three of them now. The others are gone, devoured by the ever approaching creatures that herald only death and destruction. Only two stand, only two have the strength. For the third, there is nothing more to be done. Death is imminent, fighting will only prolong the torture.

Eren has grown since his squad days, but he still hasn’t given up on the ideals of his youth. He’ll be damned if he can’t fight the idea of something and win. But he used the last of his energy to transform, saving Mikasa and Armin from the 15 metre Titan that consumed the rest of their team. They are all that remains. Even Levi, immovable, unfathomable Levi, is gone now. Dead. Their gas cylinders are empty, their blades broken. Nothing stands between them and a gruesome, painful death.

Eren’s yelling-he won’t stop yelling-at Mikasa to stop being so calm and at Armin to get up off the floor because it’s not over yet, it’s not damn it!

The monstrous thudding of gigantic feet grows only louder as they approach, a circle of Titans surrounding them, closing in. They have only seconds left now. Mikasa is the first to be taken, still so calm even in the face of her demise. Its hand closes around her midsection, lifting her, until they are staring each other in the face. Eren screams and yells, tripping over his own feet trying to save her, to pound on the beast with his fists because that’s all he can do. It’s not even that big, it’s not the ending she deserves and surely she can’t be that far from the ground and from Eren because it’s not that tall! It’s not!

“It’s okay, Eren,” Mikasa says calmly, looking down to him. “You’ll live longer this way.”

And then the Titan widens its jaw, and oh God she’s inside it’s mouth and it’s going to bite down any second, severing Mikasa’s body from her head. It’s Shiganishina all over again, except this time it’s not his mother, it’s the only family he has left, the only one to follow him and protect him without question. Without her, Eren will be helpless. He will be nothing. Mikasa has always been a part of him for longer than he can remember, for longer than the Titans have been within the walls and without her he will be lost. And Armin’s still just sitting there, barely moving his head up even as Eren screams and Mikasa tries her best to calm him, because she truly believes everything will be okay if she fulfills her promise, her duty to Eren, until the end. Like Eren is nothing without her, she is nothing without that promise, that one purpose in her life.

The Titan is going to clamp down its jaw any second now. Blood will splatter out just like that day all those years ago, and Eren will be alone in the world for the last moments of his life. Armin is practically dead now anyway.

Then the Titan stops. It releases its grip on Mikasa, and she catches herself on the ground, falling to her knees with the impact. The Titan’s eyes are wide, and suddenly it’s falling, falling backwards, lifelessly.

And on the wind, the sound that they did not dare to believe was not Titan’s footsteps comes closer, heralding their salvation. It is the sound of thundering, pounding hooves, and it is the sound of victory, of hope.

They are not forgotten, here on the battlefield. Their grave has become their place of resurrection, and here, where all hope was lost, they are saved.

**Author's Note:**

> I seem to write a lot of darker pieces, and decided to put a twist on my usual bleak, hopeless endings with something a little more optimistic.


End file.
